Woods aims to end Majors drought

He’s got a swing he can finally trust, a putter that shows flashes of the old magic, and a string of wins to prove that it’s all finally coming together.

The superstar girlfriend is an added bonus, though by now so much time has passed that the debate about Tiger Woods revolves around the state of his game, not his personal life.

Winning may not take care of everything, as his latest Nike ad claims.

Confidence boost But six wins in his comeback are a confidence-inducing tonic for Woods, and the commercial is certainly more upbeat than the one Nike ran two years ago with his late father ominously asking him what he could have been thinking.

Woods is more upbeat, too, and with good reason. When last seen here a year ago he was kicking clubs, missing putts and muttering to himself about chances gone awry. He didn’t break par in four rounds, and left with barely enough prize money to fuel up his private jet.

Now he’s a heavy favorite to win his fifth Masters and kick start his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus in the majors. The swagger that has always suited him so well seems to be back, and the way he was talking Tuesday this might not be a good year to bet against him. “I feel comfortable with every aspect of my game,” Woods said.

‘Time running out for Tiger’Jack Nicklaus says 14-time major winner Tiger Woods needs to win this week’s 77th Masters or it will be “a lot tougher for him” to overtake his all-time record of 18 major titles. The 73-year-old golf legend who won six Masters titles said he still thinks 37-year-old Woods will break his career record. “He’s going to have to figure it out. But I think if he figures it out here it will be a great boost for him. If he doesn't figure it out here, after the spring he has had, I think it will be a lot tougher for him,” Nicklaus said. AFP